Five reasons we’re inducing labor early

I’ve always been in favor of letting babies come when they’re ready. I never understood why anyone would induce labor unless it was absolutely medically necessary. “God has a plan,” I told my OBGYN when he broached the subject of induction during my first pregnancy, “and I don’t want to mess with it.”

Then my second pregnancy happened. It’s been a doozy, filled with nausea, hormone issues (I’ve had my blood drawn more times than I can even recall), false labor and complications. I want so badly to be done with this. So when the doctor asked if we wanted to book an appointment for early induction this time around, my husband and I thought about it briefly and responded with a resounding, “Yes.” Here are all the reasons why.

Medical reasons. I’ve been diagnosed with an irritable uterus. While this condition doesn’t make induction a necessity, it’s unpleasant. It causes a ton of severe false labor that’s very stressful. I personally don’t think it can be all that healthy for the baby, either.

Size of the baby. The baby’s birth weight is projected to be very high and its head is measuring three weeks ahead of schedule! Yeesh. This was the primary reason that my doctor advised against going full-term.

Scheduling issues. While not a consideration that would typically alter our entire birth plan, we do have a toddler to deal with. We’d like someone else to watch him for a couple of days while my husband and I relax as much as possible together in the hospital after the birth of our second child. An early birth works better for our relatives to keep an eye on him, and I like the idea of calmly tucking him in at grandma’s house to minimize the stress of the experience for him.

Rapid labor progression. My first son came like a dang freight train. Fast labor seems to run in my family and it’s typically faster the second time around. We now live 45 minutes away from the hospital. I’m a little nervous that this baby will be born on the side of the freeway.

Birthday preference. This is a very minor thing that I would call more of a “bonus” to induction rather than an actual consideration. My due date is close to Thanksgiving, and I’ve always thought it would suck to have the baby’s birthday close enough that it would occasionally fall on the holiday. While it’s still set for Thanksgiving week, our induction date is early enough that our baby’s birthday will never fall on the actual day of Thanksgiving.

We’re only inducing four days early (in order to allow the baby to develop fully, it’s unwise to induce before the 39th week of pregnancy), so there is still a decent chance that the baby will come on its own before that. Having that date on the calendar, however, puts me at ease.

Do you know anyone who has induced labor early? What do you think about it?

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Chelsea Day

Chelsea Day runs the family blog Someday I’ll Learn, where she and her husband tackle domestic life, including cooking, cleaning, parenting, organization, money management and more…one day at a time! They aim to simplify life for other busy parents with helpful tips and a healthy dose of reality.

3 Responses to Five reasons we’re inducing labor early

I’ve been induced for medical reasons nearly every time and I used to hate the fact that I’d never gone into labor on my own. With my last pregnancy I actually preferred being induced because I could plan for things so much easier.

I was induced with my first. Granted he was a week late but I wasn’t even dialated at all! This kid needed to be evicted! I ended up having a wonderful delivery and really enjoyed it even though the start was not as I had planned. I say if you feel comfortable with it then it’s what is best for everyone. The worst is when Mom isn’t feeling 100 percent on board with whatever decision is being made. That just makes for a bad time for all.